Glimpses: Sparkling
by NeverMineToHold
Summary: A distress call leads Kup and his Wreckers to the energon freighter 'Titania'. A lone sparkling survives and gets attached... Every kind of bond has its beginning. Two-Shot; fluff; bit of action; G1 AU
1. Chapter 1

Title: **„Glimpses: Sparkling"**

Status: **Part 1 out of 2 (WIP)**

Fandom: Transformers; roughly G1 (with elements of my personal, fangirl-tailored continuity/'verse)

Characters: Kup; Hot Rod; OCs

Word Count: **3961**

Disclaimer: I would love to own Transformers, but that honor belongs to Hasbro and some others. Shame!

Rating: **T**

Beta: Optimus Bob. Thank you very much for your kind help! All mistakes left are definitely my own! LOL

Warning/AN: I don't know if it's worth a warning, but I am German and this is only my third attempt at writing an English fanfiction... So, please, **don't** be gentle and point out every mistake you can find – I want to improve! LOL I don't think there are any left, thanks to Optimus Bob, but – who knows?

I hope you will enjoy reading this; please R&R! Constructive criticism, suggestions, comments – all that is most welcome! And thank you to everyone who fav'ed "Backup" and "Claws" or wrote a review! And, of course, thank you very much in advance to everyone writing a review for "Glimpses"! Flames will feed my barbecue fire – what else could be their purpose?

Glimpses: Sparkling Part 1

Kup ducked behind a metal beam.

Blistering heat erupted around him, gusts of hot air and shrapnel screeched over his plating. His gray-green paintjob turned into bubbling pools of liquid, running down his arms and legs.

Kup cussed with all the colorful imagination of an old soldier and tried to shift his armor out of the way. – But the covered area was just too small. His intakes worked frenetically to cool his overheating frame.

The energon freighter _Titania_ seemed pit-bent on turning into a deathtrap for Kup and his unit of Wreckers. Naturally they were stuck right in the thick of things – business as usual. Although this time it was entirely their choice.

How could they have ignored the distress call of a spacecraft full of Neutrals; en route from Colony Sigma to Cybertron? They were kin and even if they weren't, both Prime and the Lord High Protector would have their sorry afts for even considering to abandoning them.

But the higher-ups had other ideas.

That stupid fragger Crusader had some circuits loose, ordering them to stay put and just ignore it in favor of their current mission. – So Kup and his team had taken matters into their own servos by 'borrowing' two of the _Nebula's_ shuttles.

While they boarded the overrun freighter to evacuate any surviving civilians, it was left to Hedge's unit to deal with the second pirate vessel. And if the vibrations running down the hull were any indication, then that problem was already dealt with...

But here was Kup, pinned behind this sorry excuse of cover, halfway to the bridge, under heavy fire from the last of the wannabe space pirates...

Kup waited, counting, till a sizzling sound and the distinct smell of ozone signaled the next discharge of the gigantic photon blaster of his foe. Right on cue, he jumped to avoid the detonation.

The recoil of his own weapon had the pirate tumbling backwards, crashing through a holovid screen. The console bent as the metal caved in under the heavy impact of a Cybertronian body. - It was the perfect opportunity to off-line the fragger for good.

Kup was on him immediately, having calculated this outcome. Knocking the feeble resistance aside, he thrust his vibro-dagger straight into the pirate's spark chamber, through layers of black, rusty armor.

Patience and experience over brute force. Three out of three: Down.

Barrage and Edge chose that exact moment to arrive with squealing tires, transforming in a whirl of shifting and rearranging metal. Obviously, they had tied up things on their end – finally. Kup was _not_ pleased.

"Great of you two to show up, - but the party is over", he grumbled, but without real bite.

They were young, but he trusted those two with his whole spark. He had trained them himself, after all, and now they were Wrecker newbies. – But they had belonged to the core fleet for a cycle and had never before seen any _real_ action. These were peaceful times and although they were well trained soldiers, they tended to rush into things. This time, being separated had been bad luck on their part and no one had messed up... So Kup decided to save a lecture for later.

Barrage did not even pretend to pay Kup any heed and started for the sealed bridge, while Edge grinned good-naturedly and clapped his CO on the shoulder.

"Don't get your processor in a twist, Kup. Save that for the face-off with Crusader. He will chew us out for this stunt, big time."

"Humph. But we'll have the pleasure to watch while Lord Megatron turns him into scrapmetal. – Besides, it was the right decision to come here." Kup readied his musket laser while he spoke, waiting for Barrage to override the door lock. "Any survivors?" he added solemnly.

Edge's optics dimmed with poorly masked distress and he shifted uncomfortably on his digitigrade legs. "Three escape pods are missing... Maybe they managed to get away in time, but the log entry was unclear. And we found...," he trailed off.

"Ten empty shells," supplied Barrage. He typed in another code sequence and the mechanism released with a series of clicks and grinding gears.

All three took their positions to charge into the room, where more pirates could be lying in wait for them. "Ready?"

BREAK

They were – and yet not.

What they found behind the high-security door was the wasteland of a bridge...

The consoles of the Commanding Deck and the main screen were thrashed; blaster holes smoldered and smoke rose in dark tendrils. The stench of fried circuitry hung in the air. Glowing energon painted the walls in eerie blue...

Five empty shells lay motionless on the floor. A sixth, a violet femme, was torn apart, her components scattered everywhere. Her spark chamber was a black hole, overflowing with her own fluids...

Edge choked and turned away from the sight, looking ready to purge his tank. But Kup noticed with distant approval that he didn't drop his guard; instead he observed another part of the spacious room.

So young... They knew about fighting, but only as a practiced sequence of movements, not in the gory way of reality...

Kup had seen the horrors of war many times over and to him, this was nothing new... Nevertheless, this was truly a heinous act and a meaningless one, to slaughter civilians like this.

His own spark felt heavy.

The door leading to the cargo hold was open and Kup picked his way through the deactivated, when a servo reached shakily for his leg.

"Kup!" Edge raised his blaster, perceiving a threat, but Barrage stopped him with his mighty talons; shaking his square helm. Both watched as Kup got down on his knees and carefully turned the 'bots frame around, - what was left of it. The upper section, bulky and bright magenta, was intact, but everything below the chest plate was just _gone_. Tubes leaked coolant and wires sparked with residue energy; the lower part of the spark chamber was visible in the gaping hole.

Kup knew that there was nothing he could possibly do. The energy signature of the mech was already fading, barely brushing his sensor net. – With all the interference's due to the pure energon in the freighter's tank, it was no wonder that it hadn't registered before.

It was a Primus given miracle – although far from being a mercy – that the 'bot was still, to a degree, functioning.

Barely alight optics tried to focus on Kup's faceplate and a burst of static crackled from the mech's damaged vocalizer. He tried again, his grip going slack.

"... sp... spar-k...ling..."

Kup nodded: "We will find him and bring him back to Cybertron." – But his solemn vow fell on deaf audios. The mech was an empty shell, his spark evaporating, before he had finished his sentence.

A moment passed in heavy silence.

Kup rose to his feet and pulled up the ships layout on his screen, accessing the freighter's mainframe wirelessly. "The ship has three cargo holds; Level 2 to 4. Let's split up and find that sparkling. – And don't let your guard down, - there could still be more pirates up ahead."

BREAK

He felt dizzy.

His full processing capacity was overflowing with an emotion he had not yet experienced since his creation. He wasn't able to comprehend the hollow feeling in his core. It had always been filled with the gentle glow of his creators...

But now it was gone, leaving him... _alone_.

He curled himself into as tight a ball as possible, hiding behind the farthest container, in the dimly lit hall. He had to escape the frightening giant of a mech, who chased him; snarling; black; _danger_.

"Run!" his creators had both screamed and thus he did, until he was burning on the inside, with warnings flooding his system.

He wanted his creators; badly.

Something loomed over him, there in the blink of an optic; a shadowy thing, reaching down. A blue liquid, horribly familiar, rained on him from razor sharp claws. – He screeched in panic, unable to move.

Before the extended servo could so much as touch him, something barreled into the giant. The black mech was thrown off balance and sent staggering back; cursing viciously.

Another mech's frame dwarfed him now: Big, gray and dark green, with narrowed, bright blue optics. His energy signature registered as heavy, calm and strong. – It was the polar opposite of the burning flux, the overwhelming aggression of the clawed one.

One glance skimmed over his silver frame and then the newcomer positioned himself to shield him, like his own creators would.

Right in front of his green optics, wide with terror, a battle unfolded. The pictures froze in his visual center, burning away everything before this point in time, washing it away in a current of Cybertronian symbols.

BREAK

The pirate's blaster fell to the floor, splitting neatly in half on impact. He roared a curse; avoiding a second jab of the vibro-dagger.

Kup blocked his way, mindful of the tiny sparkling right behind him.

They were so easily crushed, their armor far too thin...

Knowing this he doubled his efforts to bring his opponent down as fast as possible. Kup ducked a sweeping kick, almost offended at how sloppy it was executed. He presented an opening, seemingly overextending himself in a move to reach the main energon line of his foe.

And the fool fell for it, was lured in, grabbing Kup in a choke hold, only to offer his vulnerable tank as a target.

Energon flooded from the deep cut, as the vibro-dagger tore through rusted armor plates like oilcake. The grip around Kup's torso loosened. Reversing his hold on the blades hilt, he drove it deeper, now able to put his weight to good use.

Blue-white light spilled forward from the breached spark chamber and with a last, hollow screech, the light faded in those bright red optics.

As soon s the mech was off-lined, something small darted over to Kup and lunged at him. Fighting against basic programming, he stood perfectly still, only deactivating his dagger.

The fragile silver protoform of the sparkling clung to his kneecaps. The young child whined in distress, clearly terrified out of its processor. Its small, blunt servos found the gaps between Kup's armor plates with expert precision. Twisting and turning sensitive wires, they disrupted the flow of lubricant to his leg.

Kup grimaced, but endured the unpleasant feeling stoically. He quickly comm'd Edge and Barrage via private link, notifying them of his position and that the child was located and safe. They would end their own search and arrive shortly.

The high-pitched keening continued, tearing at Kup's spark.

He had plenty of experience when it came to dealing with younglings, as a former Academy instructor... But a sparkling was another matter altogether. And this one, small and delicate from frame to wiring, was hardly more than a hatchling. Its signature was so faint, announcing its vulnerability to every mech, seeking protection, but at the same time, presenting a tempting target.

No wonder a twisted spark like that pirate was so pit-bent on its destruction...

"Calm down, young one, or your systems will overheat. You're safe now; old Kup here will protect you."

He hadn't seriously expected a reaction to this and indeed it did nothing to soothe the trembling sparkling. The first signs of shock, due to what it had to witness, were already evident.

Kup ran a quick scan; blue light reflecting from containers and tanks. His whole array was specifically designed for battle, to map his environment and to locate weapon systems, security equipment or the weaknesses in the frame of a foe.

Consequently, nothing new was revealed by the readings, aside from dangerously low energon levels – a given, considering the situation – and minor surface damage, - the latter most likely acquired while on the run.

With great care to avoid sudden movements, Kup bent down and reached open palmed for the sparkling. "Come here, little one."

It didn't resist, but he had to carefully extract the fragile servos, opening their death grip on him. It fell silent when Kup held it; finally sheltered in one of his hands.

The child whined after a moment, its wide green optics darted wearily from one giant digit to the other. It shifted, trying the secure but loose hold.

Kup brought it up and close to his spark chamber. He counted on the calming effect of its pulsing hum and the other familiar noises of a Cybertronian body. They were seldom tactile creatures, but this early stage of development was an exception. And Kup could vaguely remember that his own creator had done the same for him, millions of years ago, - and it had never failed to lull him into recharge.

And it worked: After a moment of confusion, the sparkling inched closer, listening intently to the well-known noise. Its trembling, rattling their plates together, subsided. In this close proximity, it could feel the gentle vibrations – and the tiny protoform relaxed, its optics dimming in preparations of recharge.

Kup vented a relieved sigh; adjusting his hold slightly.

"Kup!"

At Edge's shout, the sparkling jerked upright, slipping from its semi-daze into full alertness instantly. Confronted with the sight of two armed mechs, one as black and clawed as the pirate, it screeched in panic.

Kup shot his comrade a withering look, as he tried in vain to soothe the child. His wires had yet again to suffer from blunt servos, this time slipping into the seam of his spark chamber. Kup stifled a groan as his main energon line was shifted – the area around the spark was especially tender.

"It's alright, child. They are friends, they won't hurt you."

"Yeah. Sorry, little one. Didn't mean to give you a scare," chimed Edge in, showing his now empty servos to illustrate that he meant no harm, while Barrage stayed a good distance away.

But the squirming sparkling was beyond words; it hiccuped in a nervous glitch, its optics burning too brightly.

"Careful, the sparkling -" before Barrage could finish, the green optics shuttered and the small frame went limp in Kup's hand.

"Darn! We need to get him to Welder immediately." Kup was already in motion, cradling the child in his arms, as he broke into a full tilt run.

Barrage brought up the rear, notifying Hedge in the second shuttle that their mission was complete. Edge was fast enough to keep up, designed for speed as he was.

"Why the hurry? In stasis-lock, the young ones condition can't worsen... right?"

Kup made a mental note to have a word with Welder – the medical education of the Academy freshlings was obviously severely lacking.

"'Got still energon behind your audios, do you? It's a _sparkling_, for Primus sake! Now shut 'ya mouth plate and run ahead to prepare the shuttle for lift off. Got it?"

And Edge did just that.

BREAK

And that, aside from a short, interesting message from Welder, was the last time Kup had heard from the sparkling. It was ushered to the med bay right after boarding, leaving the Wrecker unit to deal with a royally pissed Crusader. They had left the Command Deck only to go straight to the brig.

No other survivors were found.

An orn later, when Kup should have had the opportunity to ask Hedge, it turned out that his SIC and the rest of his unit had been dispatched to handle the conflict on Colony Theta without him.

To say that Kup was not amused to be left behind would have been the understatement of the vorn. But going ballistic on Crusader would do no good – aside from providing blissful satisfaction, of course.

Even worse, Kup, as the 'main culprit' and senior officer, was demoted for the 'foreseeable future' and ordered to work with the maintenance crew. Which wasn't too bad, but illogical punishment and typical Crusader power-play all the same.

He could not fathom why that blockhead was their CO – hadn't Kup taught Megatron better, for Primus sake?

He contemplated his current situation on his way to his quarters, after a long shift in the shuttle bay. At this hour, the winding corridors of the _Titania_ were mostly empty; his clanking steps echoed hollowly in the stillness.

Kup was just passing the med bay,- and stopped in mid-stride, as a familiar, agitated clicking reached his audios.

"Hold still, you little glitch!"

The angry shout was accompanied by a loud 'crash', like someone bumping into a workstation and followed by cursing. Someone else snickered with malicious joy.

"No wanna!" exclaimed a static, fluctuating voice, coming obviously from an underdeveloped vocalizer.

"Seriously, silverhead, you _need_ your energon. So stop being difficult and –"

Kup had heard enough. But before he could step in, the door in front of him opened. The sparkling dashed out, the youngster twins right behind it.

Spotting him, Rush shouted: "Grab him, old-timer!"

The sparkling swerved around, but its tiny feet tangled up, too unsteady for the sudden maneuver. It stumbled right into Kup's outstretched servos. The little thing hissed angrily at him as it was lifted; kicking and flailing around.

"Now, is that a way to greet a friend?" chided Kup lightly, quite amused. But he was also impressed, because this one had some bite. Most sparklings were just shy or clingy little limpets.

It looked up then, taking in the sight of its captor. Instantly, the agitated noises changed into relieved clicking. Mere astroseconds later, it had wormed its protoform out of the loose hold and climbed up to Kup's broad shoulder – surprisingly mindful of sensitive wires. Reaching its new perch it sat down, trying to chew his audios off with its sparkling-speech chatter. Falling silent, it nuzzled Kup's helm affectionately, like a cyber-kitten.

The twins, bright blue Rapid and sand-yellow Rush, stood and stared at the display. They were quite unsuccessful at suppressing their snickers as the battle hardened Wrecker was turned into an impromptu jungle gym. Under Kup's withering glare they sobered up instantly, figuring themselves in trouble.

Now was Kup no mech to take his frustration out on others, because aside from everything else, to do so was the mark of a weak character. But, seriously, what was Welder up to, leaving a _sparkling_, for Primus sake, in the care of _those_ two younglings? These pranksters were not known as the 'twins of doom" for nothing!

"What were you two blockheads thinking, shouting at a sparkling and chasing it around?" he snapped, jabbing a finger at Rush's chest plate, because he stood closest.

Without waiting for an answer, Kup did a quick scan. Right after leaving the brig he had downloaded one suitable to monitor a sparkling, just in case. He checked for damage and any other indication that the little one had strained its systems too much. Overheating was a somewhat common ailing with Cybertronian children.

While he was at it, Rapid exchanged a slightly embarrassed look with his twin, but raised his chin in defiance: "He won't keep still, so what else were we supposed to do? He's refusing to take his energon since yesterday."

"Yeah," came Rush to his aid, nodding emphatically. "Welder had to use a fuel line straight to silverhead's tank this morning. He's acting off."

"Exactly. Doc-bot is busy and we're not too keen on force-feeding him, ya know, Kup? But we need our recharge too, as funny as that may sound. We don't have the nerve to play caretaker for that pigheaded glitch."

Said 'glitch', deemed fine by Kup, twittered indignantly. It copied Rapid's rude gesture and tried its utmost to crawl under Kup's armor, as Rush reached for him.

Kup knocked the outstretched servo away, none too gently. "Oh no, you don't."

Rush grinned, showing his fangs: "So what, old-timer, are _you_ gonna feed him?"

"Humph. How about you tell me first what exactly happened yesterday? Sparklings don't stop gulping down their energon for no reason."

Rapid vented a sigh, irritated to stand around in the barren corridor, wasting precious recharge time after his shift. "We fed him his ration and silverhead started to stumble around like his motor relays were damaged."

"Yeah and he nearly overheated and purged his tanks, going all whiny on us. Welder couldn't figure out what went wrong, but he was fine after a long recharge."

Kup felt his optic ridge climbing higher and higher, dreading his own conclusion. He nudged the protoform gently, diverting its attention from one of his sensor clusters. "You refuse to drink it because you don't want your systems to crash again, right?"

The sparkling whistled enthusiastically, clearly delighted to be included in the conversation, and nodded.

"I see. And what did the energon smell like?"

The little one struggled with its vocalizer, but in the end, it forced out a shaky: "Sweet-sharp."

Kup heard his own gears grinding together as he rounded on the twins: "Spill – what _exactly_ did you give the child?"

"Uhm," answered Rush eloquently, his whole frame ready to bolt at a moments notice.

Rapid took over: "Look, only the best, of course. We had some cubes left over from our little get together and –"

"You two had the nerve to give _high-grade_ to a _sparkling_? Primus help me! And here I tried to convince myself that no one could be _that_ dumb. Way to go, to overcharge a child," snapped Kup, almost viciously. Welder was even more in for it than the twins, they could not know how to care for a sparkling properly, but a medic should know better.

"Kup, we're sorry, we didn't mean to hurt –"

But Kup started down the corridor, ignoring the apologizing twins completely, lest he give in and smack their empty helms together. Inwardly cursing, mindful of curious little audios, he walked straight for the officer's mess.

It was deserted, filled only with the loud hum of the energon dispenser.

Seeing it, the child chirped doubtful. But it stayed put when Kup petted its tiny helm gently; trusting the older mech. "Here, take it and sit down."

Unusually subdued, Rush took the proffered child and all three sat down at the closest table. "Now watch and learn, you two bozos."

Kup made quick work of fixing a cube for the sparkling: He mixed a low grade formula, filtering it twice, just to be sure that the typical impurities were completely dissolved. They didn't bother adult mechs, but could stick to a youngster's tank like lead. Then he added a touch of cadmium and iron to the now bright blue liquid, a trick to improve the taste.

The whole process would, by most 'bots, be considered to be old fashioned, but Kup saw no need to change something that worked without fail since eons. The finishing touch was to heat it a little.

As Kup went back to the table, he noticed the mildly revolted looks from the twins, because of the heavy sweet scent with a distinct copper note – but the sparkling had perked up.

Kup settled down and handed the cube over. Tiny servos clutched the energon eagerly. "Don't rush, lad. We've got time."

A happy twitter resounded in the mess, as the child slurped the liquid, gulping it down with obvious glee.

"Now you two know how to fix the rations properly – right?"

Rush and Rapid nodded, watching disgruntled as energon spattered on the table. A tiny blue trail trickled slowly down the sparklings round chin. It was totally oblivious that its table manners were lacking – dooming the twins to bathe the messy protoform, before they could finally recharge.

They watched, amazed, as the gruff old Wrecker reached over and wiped the drops away with a careful digit.

tbc...

AN: R&R, please ^-^ The next (and last) part should be online within a month, at the latest, I think. I'll try to write it faster, of course. And yes – the sparkling is Hot Rod, but I hope everyone figured that out already ^^

Next up is the journey back to Cybertron...

So... too fluffy? Too much "action" to be fluffy? Kup too OOC? Bored to tears already? Let me know, don't be shy! ^-^

I plan to write two follow-ups to this, consequently called "Glimpses: Youngling" and "Glimpses: Prime" and maybe a little, darker AU of this... Actually, my story "Backup" would definitely fit into "G:P"... Well, let's wait and see what happens.

8


	2. Chapter 2

Title: **„Glimpses: Sparkling"**

Status: **Part 2 out of 4 (WIP)**

Fandom: Transformers; roughly G1 with Bayverse background elements

Characters: Kup; Hot Rod; OCs (Rapid, Rush, Edge, Hedge, Crusader, Link-up, Barrage, Welder)

Word Count: **3562**

Disclaimer: See part 1; I won't write it again!

Rating: **T**

Beta: This is currently unbeta'ed. I will exchange this chapter with a beta'ed version as soon as Optimus Bob has done the magic ^-^ Normally, I would wait before posting this, but I wanted, for once in my life, to keep my self-appointed deadline. - Alright, alright – I know I am already some days too late! Jeez, don't rub it in (pout). So all mistakes are mine, but I don't think there are too many LOL

(So when you get another alert soon, don't be surprised; the third part will take about a month or two to write).

Warning/AN: I hope you will be pleasantly surprised that this is NOT the end of the fic. I got some more ideas, which will take "Sparkling" beyond pure, cute fluff – hope you will enjoy that change!

Thank you to everyone who reviewed the first part! Please R& R – don't be shy and hide out there, "shadow reading" ^v^ Constructive criticism, suggestions, comments, your interpretation, what you liked and didn't; let me know – all that is most welcome! Flames will feed my barbecue fire, what else could be their purpose?

Glimpses: Sparkling Part II

He slipped away, placing his feet carefully, intent on reducing their metallic clanking in the empty corridor.

Slinking around the next corner, he spotted the place he remembered from yesterday. He dropped quickly to his knee plates and crawled into the small tunnel, created by a bundle of cables. They thrummed with electricity, tickling his sensor net.

It wasn't the best hiding place but it should provide enough shelter to avoid being found, at least until he could come up with a better idea.

All of this would be much easier had he had access to the _Nebula's_ mainframe and thus to a layout of the ship. But complaining about that to Kup had ended in a lecture about weak firewalls, viruses and nasty possibilities.

The old Wrecker had not meant to frighten him, he understood, he was just presenting the facts. And now he knew _exactly_ why sparklings like him were not allowed to connect with the ship's system; period.

So, lacking that advantage, he increased the sensitivity of his audios – a neat little trick Rapid had taught him while Kup wasn't looking – and actually managed to pick up the specific noise he was searching for. The modulation of the familiar vocalizer stood out against the background hum of mechanic activity.

"... 19 petrorabbits, 20 petrorabbits, 21 petrorabbits...," counted Rush diligently, back in the med bay, while his twin seemed to argue with Welder... – Good, he had enough time left.

In all honesty, he hadn't been too comfortable around the twins, at least in the beginning. Not only had they fed him weird energon, making him sick, but they tended to grab him too roughly and often shouted at him when they got impatient...

But, after what the adult mechs only dubbed 'the accident', Kup had made it a point to teach them how to treat him, like he had back in the officers mess. And Kup had watched from the sidelines for some days, ready to step in or offer advice.

So he had relaxed and soon stopped altogether to constantly look for his guardian's reassuring presence, never seeing the Wrecker slip away during an exciting game of tag; three days ago.

Kup wouldn't have done that if it wasn't safe for him, which must have meant that he approved of the twins abilities as caretakers, when the older 'bot had his own servos full with work.

He was not a baby spark anymore, - he was okay with that. Rush and Rapid were actually pretty nice 'bots, when you knew them better. Besides, he had soon learned where Kup's quarters were, so he snuck off to him in the evenings, for energon and story time.

Today, the twins opted to play hide-and-seek after their shift, - and he really _really_ did not want to lose again. Five times in a row wasn't bad luck anymore, it was a curse! - But where could he hide?

Pondering that, he set optics on the elevator at the other end of the corridor. With its doors open, it would still be possible to take cover behind the console on the left side, where the control panel was...

He had been told in no uncertain terms that he was not supposed to leave this level of the ship, - but he had no intention to _use_ the elevator. It couldn't be wrong if he just slipped inside and wedged himself in that gap... right?

He wormed his way backwards out of the cable tunnel and made some hesitating steps forward, wrestling with himself to make up his processor. The possibility to finally best the twins won out. – But as soon as he went inside, the elevators doors closed behind him, swishing shut, before he could turn around. A sudden lurch upwards shook his tiny frame and he clung to the console in panic.

His tank began to churn with a burst of tickling electrons. Oh no – where is this thing taking me? He would be in so much trouble for this...

Just as the first warning of overheating flashed across his screen, the doors opened again, sliding away to reveal a room full of activity.

Blossoming panic forgotten, he stood and stared, mesmerized; feeling his optics widen. He tried to take everything in, which was difficult, being so small. But at the other end of the room was a big screen, full of colorful pictures, with circles and symbols and text in Cybertronian; far too complex for him to understand.

A flock of mechs he hadn't yet met clustered there, pointing and discussing something, pulling up more photos with gestures.

Along the silvery walls were more, smaller screens, with consoles and workstations, all blinking and humming, full of buttons, each monitored by even more mechs and the occasional femme.

And right there, over a table like thingy as big as himself, light shimmered and a hologram of a city flickered into existence, and –

He was beginning to feel dizzy and overwhelmed, as his processor struggled to keep up with so much input. That so many vocalizer's talked, ordered and argued, made it even worse. – But this was so exciting after being holed up in the med bay for an orn, he just _had_ to explore a bit.

Before the movement could register, he had already left the elevator. He stepped forward, wanting to see the hologram –

His back collided with something sturdy, unmovable, rattling his silver armor plates with a crunching clank noise, sending him tumbling to the hard floor. He sat there a moment, slightly disoriented and confused by all those warnings flashing stark red over his screen, as interrupted relays were reset and sensors recalibrated.

The loud grinding of gears cut through that haze like an alarm of its own and he glanced up at the thing that had tripped him.

Nothing but pedes filled his sight, ending in sharp, jutting angles. He was forced to crane his neck as far as it would go, the joint protesting, to get a good view of the giant of a white mech. – And when his optics finally reached the helm, he immediately wished they hadn't.

Dark blue optics looked down on him with clear disgust, as if he was nothing but a drone or something organic. The dozens of small faceplate parts had shifted, overlapped, to form a deep frown, - it looked pretty scary over the rim of a pointy ending battlemask.

Basic programming kicked in and he shrank back, trying to curl up on himself, to appear as small as possible; clicking beseechingly. Panic resurfaced full force – but Kup had said that he would be safe onboard the _Nebula_, and he didn't lie to him; never.

But –

"What are you doing here, sparkling? I'm quite certain that your caretakers informed you, that the bridge is off-limits for civilians," the words grated harshly against each other, frighteningly stern and clipped.

The white mech leaned closer, scowling now, looming over him and casting his tiny frame into a dark shadow. Something about that was horribly familiar. He whimpered in fear, terrified.

He wanted Kup!

BREAK

Link-up was monitoring his assigned frequency, when a terrified whimper scattered his single minded concentration. Terminating the connection, he looked up from his workstation and zeroed in on the source of the noise:

Crusader was staring down a little sparkling. _The_ sparkling. The lone survivor of the _Titania_ the rumor mill was going crazy over.

The protoform was obviously half scared out of its processor, cowering on the floor, trying to fuse with it in an attempt to hide. Link-up, himself fresh from the Academy, could relate. He didn't like to be the focus point of that icy gaze either. Naturally, seeing as no one else seemed to notice the unfolding drama, he decided to come to the rescue.

"Sir, with all due respect, there is surely no need to be harsh with such a young spark. I'm sure it meant no harm." While talking, Link inserted himself between his CO and the child, interrupting the unfair staring contest. He managed to produce some soothing clicks – being a communication specialist had its perks, even if it was only a flexible vocalizer.

Big green optics turned to him and the slight tremor in the protoform subsided; a twitter answered him. Taking that as a cue, Link-up bent down and helped the sparkling back on its pedes. It inched closer to him as Crusader straightened with a grumble of distaste.

"Escort it off the bridge immediately and return to your station."

"Yes, sir."

Link-up saluted smartly. – But all he did was to wait, until his CO was out of audio range and occupied with other officers; discussing the survey mission report.

Seeing the coast was clear, he kneeled down to be on optic level and smiled in a way that was, hopefully, reassuring, seeing as the child was far from being at ease around him.

"Sorry about that rude welcome, little one. So... what brings you here? You know, - just because it's off-limits doesn't mean that the bridge is actually interesting."

The sparkling shook its helm so violently in denial that Link-up feared it would end up twisting its delicate wiring: "Did not."

"Really?" Link's optic ridge rose skeptically at that. "Then how did you end up here?"

The child pointed accusingly at the elevator: "Hide 'n seek. With twins. It _moved_."

Link-up nodded sympathetically. Of course, to a sparkling, it would seem like a good idea to hide inside the elevator. Pity this one was connected straight to the bridge and activated through a light barrier...

He stifled a laugh, imagining the little one's panicked – and surely guilt ridden – faceplate when it realized that it was trapped and off to Primus knew where.

"I see. Then... hm... Oh, yeah, - how about we let the twins suffer a bit longer searching for you and I call Kup to get you? Sounds like a plan?" Link-up winked mischievously; harboring ulterior motives, now that he got his chance to win a bet.

The youngsters optics shone more brightly at the mention of the Wreckers designation and it trilled and clicked, clearly all for that idea.

"Good. Wait right there for a moment. – And don't touch anything."

Link-up went back to his station, making sure that Crusader was still distracted. He would have preferred to use his comm link to call Kup... But the old soldier was not one to give his frequency freely to someone outside of his trusted unit. And the mech was a senior officer with a much higher security clearance than a newbie operator. So normal means would have to suffice.

He opened a channel, reaching Construct, down in the hangar. After a short exchange, he was patched through: "Link-up to Kup."

Static flittered and crackled over the frequency.

"What is it? I'm busy down here," answered a gruff voice a moment later. Kup's words echoed heavily, indicating that he was currently working in an enclosed space, like a maintenance shaft.

Something clanked with considerable force against metal, making Link's audios ring. One beat followed after the other, accompanied by muffled cursing; Link's best guess was something along the lines of 'Primus forsaken rusty bowels'.

"We've got a little sparkling situation here on the bridge. And Crusader is not happy about it. I need you to pick it up, 'cause I can't leave my post," he explained, eager to see proof of the rumors for himself.

Silence on the other end. – Another clank erupted and steam hissed; some mechanism or other went online with a grinding whine.

"... I'm on my way. Kup out."

BREAK

Kup hadn't been kidding: Much earlier than Link-up had anticipated, the elevators doors opened to reveal the green-gray frame of the old Wrecker.

He looked slightly disheveled, covered in specs of oil and grease; cleaning his servos with a cloth. He carried a belt full of tools, slung casually over one shoulder.

"You should have comm'd the twins. I'm on shift and you knew that," he accused mildly without preamble.

Link-up wasn't listening, since he was focussed on the little silver streak darting over to Kup. It twittered so happily that – finally! – some helms turned away from their tasks, watching the unusual guest.

Little servos reached for big ones, demanding to be picked up, and the mech, known as a gruff old soldier, obliged with careful motions. Link-up could not help but notice the natural ease with which the sparkling settled in the crook of Kup's arm; held close to his spark.

That was even better than the gossip! Aloud, Link said: "Well, you'd better deal with it – it's your sparkling, after all."

Kup grumbled something under the hiss of his vents, but the little one squealed happily: "Kup's!" – And nuzzled against the thick gray chest plate.

Aw – that's just too cute! Link-up stifled a laugh and shared amused looks with the rest of the crew; Icon, the pretty pink femme, owed him some energon goodies. Maybe he could even take her on a date...

"Silence!" barked Crusader, glaring from his files. Everyone sobered up instantly and turned away; Link included.

Only Kup, taking the good natured humor just as in stride as the glare, was completely unimpressed. Carrying the sparkling, he muttered: "Come on, lad. Let's get you back to those twins. – I'll have a _nice_ little chat with them about this."

BREAK

"Where is the little glitch now?" growled Rush, clenching his servos in frustration.

Welder deactivated the projection he was working on; yellow visor retracting into his helm. He smiled slightly: "Hide-and-seek, again?"

Rapid huffed, getting up from the floor, where he had peeked under a desk; the sparklings favorite hiding spot these days. "No, you overworked, dump-it-on-younglings-doc-bot. It's time for his energon."

Welder raised an optic ridge, suddenly stern: "I hope it's not –"

"Nope. Fixed, just like Kup has shown us. We don't make the same mistake twice."

"_If_ we can help it," added Rush, as an afterthought. To prove their point, he pulled a cube form subspace, sniffing in disgust a the coppery stench. "We don't want to have the old-timer on our case again. Not after the bridge disaster. It sucks – he's a rust bucket for sure, but a Wrecker, so he knows all the tricks."

"_And_ our hiding places," Rapid grimaced sourly. His audios were practically still ringing from the last lecture, not to mention the overall panic as the sparkling was nowhere to be found.

Welder was quite certain that he didn't imagine the fondness in the twins vocalizer's, contrasting with their exasperated words. Smile broadening, he said: "Then you should already know where to look. It's no secret that Kup is practically the young ones guardian. It has become quite attached right on sight – well, no surprise there, after what happened on the _Titania_."

The twins shared a look full of curiosity: "About that... We've never before heard of such a thing as a memory wipe, outside of re-programming, that is. – Why did that happen to silverhead?"

Welder hummed thoughtfully, arranging his tools on a tray out of habit, before he settled for an explanation: "It is part of the basic programming of a sparkling, a fail-safe, so to speak. Before it became custom to install that subroutine, we lost many of the young ones when the Quintessons struck. The forced separation, the dissolution of the creator-sparkling bond, would result in a violent backlash, either crashing vital systems or crippling the children psychically. Nowadays, the memory cache is wiped and the long term data locked with high-security coding. It allows for the sparkling to form a substitute bond or to function completely without one, like what happened with your 'silverhead'."

"So... He has just forgotten his creators and latched onto Kup?" Rapid, having lost his own creators not long ago in an attack on one of the colonies, sounded seriously disturbed by that thought.

Welder shook his green helm, not letting his sympathy being obvious: "No. They will return when he has his first upgrade. The process is complicated, - I was just explaining in laymen's terms. He will be fine, in the end."

Rush shrugged, unperturbed: "Kup's down in the shuttle bay. Let's catch ourselves a sparkling."

Rapid's faceplate brightened, having just realized something: "Hey Rush – we can scold Kup for forgetting feeding time!"

"Awesome!"

BREAK

Kup was lying stretched out under one of the shuttles, dismantling its shield generator.

He checked another circuit board; patiently, wire for wire – there. The area around one tiny processor chip was black...

A low whistle announced the arrival of the sparkling. – Completely unnecessary, seeing as his sensor net had picked up the approaching energy signature breems ago. Not to mention the telling clicks the young one never seemed to be able to suppress, especially when it was excited.

Normally, Kup would have scolded it for sneaking away – again – from its caretakers. But they would soon reach Cybertron... – Kup decided to cut the scraplet some slack.

"Help?" inquired a high pitched voice cheerfully, originating from besides Kup's pedes.

"Sure, young one. Just keep out of the way of the other mechs, alright?"

"Promise!"

"Good. Take that energon cube I prepared for you and then you can fetch me the soldering iron, the blue and red one."

BREAK

The space port of Iacon, a gigantic dome-like structure, connected to dozens of shipyards and docking bays, was buzzing with activity.

Freighters launched off to the colonies or returned, carrying energon and precious alloys from the moon bases and far beyond; using the space bridges, created in the Golden Age.

While the _Nebula's_ crew was cleared for a short leave, the ships systems would be overhauled and their captain, Crusader, was off to Command to get new orders.

As for Kup, he was back on active duty, - and called in for a hearing, in reaction to him disobeying orders, as he had boarded the _Titania_.

Kup led the twins, the sparkling in tow, away from the whole ruckus of dock workers, shouts and heavy machinery, into the shadows of a massive durasteel column.

"You two were informed by Welder, right?"

Rapid and Rush both nodded, looking unusually pensive and drawn: "Yeah, we know. We'll watch silverhead, don't worry."

"Good luck with that court martial," added Rush wryly.

Kup jabbed a warning digit at him: "Don't get your hopes up. I'll get my servos on you, now that your training period is over. I won't get myself dishonorably discharged before I can torture you bozos with some drills."

Ignoring their show of faked groans and moans, Kup bent down to optic level with the sparkling: "Be good now, little one. I'll see you after I'm done."

It chirped unhappily but stayed put besides Rush, so Kup patted its tiny helm gently before he left without another backwards glance.

"Good luck!"

"See ya soon, Kup!"

BREAK

Kup vanished easily into the crowd, weaving between frames and alt form vehicles, loaded with tanks and containers, driving like Primus forsaken punks.

He followed the well known path to the eastern exit.

Mere breems later he approached their established meeting place; the others, having landed with the second transport, were already waiting in the shadows of a statue.

Hedge, Barrage and Edge saluted smartly in greeting, the only part of protocol they always adhered to; outside of official occasions, that is.

"Hello Kup. I trust you received my full report and found it satisfactory?" asked Hedge in his typical, stiff way. His additional armor plates grated on each other as he relaxed his rigid salute stance to something vaguely resembling 'at ease.'

Kup clapped his SIC on the shoulder and nodded to the younger 'bots: "Yes. Well done, as always."

"Thank –"

"Hey, that's fine and all. But we have only three groons to go till we need to face-off with both our Prime _and_ the Lord High Protector," interrupted Edge, shifting and twitching on his pedes in agitation. "We're slagged."

Barrage snorted, while Hedge vented a long suffering sigh: "Technically, only Kup is called in to 'face-off' with them. Furthermore, I fully trust our commanders ability to present our case in the most suitable manner, so that we will avoid undue punishment."

Kup chuckled: "Thanks for your vote of confidence. – And Edge: Don't worry. All we received, or rather I, was a missive for me to attend a hearing in the Hall of Primes. Command didn't even use the official channel. We should be fine – otherwise, the whole unit would have had to appear before the assembled Court, with Crusader present as the prosecutor."

"So the _Titania_ affair could be for cover only? Special mission assignment again?" asked Barrage, weapon systems flaring up for an astrosecond in anticipation.

Hedge nodded: "A highly probable possibility."

"So I'm the ignorant drone of the bunch, or what?" mumbled Edge, faceplate darkening with energon, regretting his embarrassing outburst.

"No use to get all worked up before we know what exactly is going on. I'll comm you when the hearing is closed. – Why don't you all head over to the Oil's Delight and have a drink?"

Edge eyed his CO dubiously: "My, being old as rust, you're really laid back, aren't ya?"

That earned him a light smack from Kup. – And one of Hedge's famous speeches about respecting your elders.

Slagged, indeed.

tbc...

AN: R&R, please ^-^ Next is the scary meeting with both Megatron and Optimus Prime... If you haven't read it above, it will take me approx. two months to write the next part. So... too fluffy? Not cute enough? Want more story than "aw, cute" moments? OCs annoying? Crusader scary, much? Bored to tears already? Let me know, don't be shy! ^-^

Background-Music for this one was: "Sicher sein" (lit. "Being safe") by Laith Al-Deen; listen to it, it's a great song!


End file.
